Lamp.



E. W. WILSON( LAMP.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 9, 1913.

SQU. j l i Patented MayQS, 1916.

Lz'. "E l yf Es narrante ormoni.

EDW W. WILSON, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LAMP.

aisance."

To all whom it-may concern;

Be it known that I, EDWIN W, WILSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lamps, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication. i

My invention relates to lamps, particularly lamps for automobiles and other vehicles, and its object is to produce a devicel of this class comprising means whereby the strength of a beam of light emitted from the A lamp may be readily varied as desired.

4Many cities have of late passed ordinances preventing the use of automobile lamps which throw extremely bright beams of light. Automobilists have, therefore, re-

. sorted to a great many makeshifts to comply with these ordinances, as for instance, by clouding the glass4 in' front of an ordinary automobile lamp to prevent light rays passing readily from the lamp.

Such arrangements asthe one just mentioned are, of course, subject tothe objection that when it is desirable to have the lamps emit beams of light strong enough to illuminate a very dark street or country road, considerable time and exertion is required to clean the glass in the front of the lamps.

Broadly, the device of my invention comprises a casing and a plurality of lighting devices having different lighting properties disposed in the casing and.adapted to be brought into operative yposition one after the other as desired.

The preferred embodiment of my invention comprises a casing and a plurality of lighting units mounted upon a' common shaft, each unit comprising a reiiector and an electric lampor other light source, ,the strength of la beam of light emitted from the lamp at any one time being determined by the reflecting properties of the reflector in operative position at that particular time.

My invention lis fully setforth in the following description and is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional. view of the lamp of my invention; Fig. 2 is a view thereof taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 andV Specification of Letters latent.

Application filed October 9, 1913. Serial No. 794,252.

Patentes tray as, rois.

several electric lamps forming a part of the device of my invention.

Similar reference numerals refer to simis,

lar parts throughout the several views.

As illustrated in the drawings, the lamp of my invention comprises a substantially cylindrical casing l provided with a suitable cap or rear end closure 5. AV stationary reflector illustrated at 6 is provided with a flange 7 which abuts against the front of the cylindrical casing 4. The glass window 8 is held in position and clamped against the flange 7 of the stationary reiiector 6 by means of a collar 9 which encircles the forward end of the cylindrical casing l and is provided with an inwardly-extending flange 10 which engages the glass 8. j

Secured to the casing 4L by means of screws 11 and disposedon diametrically opposite sides of said casing, are the brackets 12. Suitable uprights 13 carried .by an automobile or other vehicle extend through suitable apertures'in the brackets 12, the lamp being adjusted in any desired position'by means of suitable thumb-screws 14. It is, of course, immaterial how the lamp is mounted or where it is' mounted. I have merely descibed one of many forms of mounting means which maybe employed if desired.

Extending transversely of the casing f1 able spacing bushings 19 may be interposedl between the faces of the disks just referred to and the casing l if desirable. Soldered or otherwisesecured to the metal disks 17 and 18 are the reflectors 19, 20 and 2l which are disposed around the shaft 15 -in substantially triangular arrangement. Adjacent reflectors are also soldered or otherwise secured to suitable spacing and securingineans illustrated at 22. It should be noted that the reflectors 19, 20 and 21 are of different curvatures, the refiectorl 19 having very little curvature, the reflector 20 being curved considerably more than the reector 19, and the reiiector 21 being given a conformation very similar to the conformation of the ordinary parabolic reflectors used in automobile lamps 4of the sarchlight type.

therefrom, as clearly shown in F ig. 1, are

the strips 25, preferably of copper, each one of Which is engaged by the insulated terminal of one of the incandescent lamps 24.

vCarried by the metal disk 18 isa commutatorv comprising a disk 26 of insulatingmate.- :rial retained in position by a plurality of p I'screW's 27. Carried by the disk 26 are three 'pairs of contact buttons, thebuttons 28 being connected by suitable conductors 29 with the copper strips Which have electrical engagement With the insulated terminals of the electric lamps 24, and the buttons 30 being electrically connected by conductors 31 or otherwisewith 'the disk 18. As .the

.disk `18 is soldered or otherwise securedto `themetallic reflectors it will readily be seen that each one of the buttons 30 is infact electrically connected with the grounded terminal of one of the electric lamps'24.

Carried by the casing 4 and insulatedtherefrom are a pair of brushes 32 and 33 which bear against the disk 26 of the commutator and -are brought simultaneously into electrical engagement with the contact buttons of each pair as the shaft 15, and con sequently the commutator, is rotated. The brushes 32 and 33 are connected with any suitable source of current by means of suitable fleXible conductors 34. Whenever the brushes 32 and 33 are brought into engagement With ,any pair of the buttons 28 and 3,0 the circuit for the electric lamp Whose terminals are connected with said buttons is closed and the electric lamp Whose circuit is closed is always the electric lamp located adjacent the stationary reflector 6.

FromV the above description, it is evident that When the reflector19is disposed adjacent the stationary reflector 6 a comparatively Weak beam of Alight Will be emitted from'the lamp; that a stronger beam will be emitted from the lamp When the reflector- 20 is in the position shown in the drawings, and that a very strong beam of light Will be emitted from the lamp When the reflector 21 is disposed adjacent the stationary reflector 6.

While I have indicated that the strength of a beam of light emitted from the lamp may be varied by providing reflectors of different curvatures, I may employ electric lamps of different voltages and so secure different degrees of illumination from the several lamps. The embodiment illustrated in the drawings is, however, the preferred one. Y

1. A device of the` and described, I Wish to claimt broadly any 'equivalents thereof which may suggest themselves to those' skilled in the art.

What I'cl'aim is:

class described, com prising a casing, a plurality of reflectors of" different curvatures comprising a unitary structurewvithin the casing, each ofsaid reflectors adapted to be brought into :operai tive position, and a source yof light passo-1"- ciated with each reflector.

2." A device of the class describedcompris;v

ing a casing, a shaft mounted in the casing,

a plurality of reflectors of different curvatures mounted upon said shaft, each of saidh l reflectors adapted to be brought into ,operative position, and a source of lightcarriedy with each reflector.

3. A device of the class described lcom'-V prising a casing, and a plurality of light rev flectors having different light reflecting I properties comprising a unitary structure disposed in the casing, each of said re? flectors 'adapted to be brought into operative position.. j

4. A device of the class described com-v prising a casing, a shaft mounted in' the casing, a plurality. 'of light reflectors of diferent curvatures mounted on said shaft, said reflectors adapted to be brought into operative position one after the'other, an electric lamp associated' with eachpreflec'tor, a' commutator mounted on Said 'shaft controlling the circuits for said lamps, and means for 5. A lamp comprising a casingfa shaft mounted in the casing, three light reflectors having different light reflecting properties rotating said. shaft. h, 'l

disposed in triangular arrangement upon said shaft, and means for turning said `shaft to bring said refiectors into and out of operative position one after the other..

6. A lamp comprising a casing', a shaftV mounted in the casing, three light reflectors having different light reflecting properties disposed in triangular arrangement upon said shaft, a detent arranged to retain each of the said reflectors in proper position, and

means for turning said shaft to bring said reflectors into and out of operative position one after the other. c

7. A lamp comprising a casing7 a shaft mounted in the casing, three parabolic relad flectors of different curvatures disposed in triangular arrangement upon said shaft, an electric lamp associated with each retlector, and circuit-closing mechanism disposed 5 upon said shaft adapted to close the circuit of each lamp when its associated reflector is' brought into operative position.

8. A device of the class described comprislng` a casing, a shaft mounted 1n the caslng,

10.and a plurality of reflectors of dierent curvatures mounted upon said shaft, each of said reliectors adapted to be brought into and out of operative position.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 6th day of October, AJ). 1913.V l5 Y EDWIN W. WILSON.

Titnesses A. G. MGCALEB, .ROBERT F. BRACKE. 

